There are more demons in the world than we could possibly name in one book, even if we just kept ourselves to the Judeo-Christian tradition. What we’ve done here is hit the highlights of the demonic legions, going all the way back to the beginning, when old Light-Bearer took a wrong turn out of Heaven. The list is synthesized from quite a few different sources. You can start with the Old Testament and various ancient manuscripts by Kabbalists and Muslim mystics, the most interesting of which is the Testament of Solomon (TS), a classic of Jewish pseudepigrapha which dates from way back—around the time Constantine started to Christianize the Roman Empire. One interesting thing about the TS is that it’s the first of dozens of texts that characterize Solomon as an arch-magician. And here the Queen of Sheba is characterized as a witch, unlike her presentation in the OT. It’s also interesting that the Quran refers to the tradition that Solomon built the Temple with the assistance of bound demons: see sura 21, 34, 38.
That’s your first introduction to most of the big-name demons. After that, we’ve concentrated on the medieval and Renaissance demonologists. First and foremost among these is the granddaddy of all things occult, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, whose De occulta philosophia libri tres blazed the trail that later demonologists would follow. Right after Agrippa comes the Psuedomonarchia Daemonum (PD), which first appeared as part of De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis, a 1563 demonology classic by Agrippa’s student Johann Weyer. It was translated into English prior to 1584 by Reginald Scot as part of his The Discoverie of Witchcraft. At around the same time, John Dee—advisor to Queen Elizabeth, famed mathematician and navigator—was recording his own experiments in alchemy, demonology, and Enochian ritual magic in Quinti libri mysteriorum. Not too long after this appeared the first of many editions of the anonymous Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis, or Lesser Key of Solomon, which was cobbled together over the course of centuries, and got a new life among scholars of demonology when Aleister Crowley translated part of it and published it as The Goetia in 1904. More recently, you’ve got Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal, from 1818, but mostly we like that one for the pictures.
And, here as in everything else, we’ve relied on Dad’s journal to connect some of the dots.
Anyway, from all of this history we’ve tried to put together a kind of Demons 101…just in case you ever run across one, and we can’t get there right away to help out. We’ve crossed paths with some of these baddies and have seen signs of many others. The rest? Well, when the war really starts, they’ll rear their ugly heads. And we’ll send them straight back to where they came from.
ABEZITHIBOD: In The Testament of Solomon (TS), bound and brought back from the Red Sea by Ephippas to support one of the columns of the Temple. Responsible for the pursuit of the Israelites by the Egyptians:
In the exodus of the sons of Israel I hardened the heart of Pharaoh. And I excited his heart and that of his ministers. And I caused them to pursue after the children of Israel. And Pharaoh followed with [me] and all the Egyptians. Then I was present there, and we followed together. And we all came up upon the Red Sea. And it came to pass when the children of Israel had crossed over, the water returned and hid all the host of the Egyptians and all their might.
AGARES: Odd among demons in that he is often willing to be summoned: “he cometh up mildly,” according to Pseudomonarchia demo-num (PD), appearing as an old man riding a crocodile and carrying a hawk. Can teach languages and “fetch back all that runneth away”—find missing persons? Also can cause earthquakes.
ALLOCER/ALOCER: Described in various texts as appearing like a soldier, riding on a horse, with the face of a red lion and burning eyes. (Yellow eyes? We’re checking into it.) According to PD, Allocer “maketh a man woonderfull in astronomie” (which probably means astrology), and will grant knowledge of other sciences as well. Also, he is said to be loud, for whatever that’s worth. In our experience, most demons are pretty loud when they want to be.
AMDUSCIAS: Unusual in that he takes the shape of a unicorn until compelled to assume human form. He “easily bringeth to pass, that trumpets and all musical instruments may be heard and not seen, and also that trees shall bend and incline” (PD), in addition to being an excellent procurer of familiars.
AMON: According to PD, Amon appears as a wolf with a serpent’s tail, breathing fire—or as a man with dog’s teeth and the head of a raven. Will prophesy.
AMY: There are two interesting things about Amy, other than that he appears “in a flame of fier” (PD). Other than the granting of scientific knowledge and your standard demonic familiar-arranging, he is also said to be able to discover the location of “treasures preserved by spirits,” and PD goes on to say that Amy retains some of his angelic nature, and “hopeth after a thousand two hundreth yeares to returne to the seventh throne.”
ANDRAS: An angel with the head of a raven, riding a black wolf and carrying a sword. A demon of pure murder, “he can kill the master, the servant, and all assistants” (PD).
ANDROALPHUS/ANDREALPHUS: PD cites his appearance as a peacock, and in human form master of “all things belonging to measurements”; in addition, he can change humans into various bird shapes.
ASMODEUS (ASMODAY/SIDONAY/SYDONAY): Proud and arrogant demon. According to TS, even bound, he scorns Solomon: “But how shall I answer thee, for thou art a son of man; whereas I was born an angel’s seed by a daughter of man, so that no word of our heavenly kind addressed to the earth-born can be overweening.” His star is Ursa Major, also known as the Dragon’s Child, and his task on earth is to turn desire into hate: “My business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I waste away the beauty of virgin women, and estrange their hearts…. I transport men into fits of madness and desire, when they have wives of their own, so that they leave them, and go off by night and day to others that belong to other men; with the result that they commit sin, and fall into murderous deeds.” He is subject only to the archangel Raphael, although according to Solomon, the smell of burning fish liver puts him to flight. Asmodeus also hates water.
PD (where he is called Asmoday) differs on appearance and powers: here he has three heads, “whereof the first is like a bull, the second like a man, the third like a ram, he hath a serpents taile, he belcheth flames out of his mouth, he hath feete like a goose, he sitteth on an infernall dragon, he carrieth a lance and a flag in his hand.” Under the power of a magic silver ring, and when called by his name, he will teach the sciences and answer all questions truly, including the locations of hidden things.
ASTAROTH: “A foul angel sitting upon an infernal dragon, and carrying in his right hand a viper” (PD). Will prophesy and will tell the story of the demons’ fall from grace, although PD says Astaroth will not admit his own part in the fall. A note on his summoning: PD cautions that his breath is poisonous and warns the conjuror to keep his distance and to keep a silver ring near his face.
AYM: Aym rides a snake and carries a torch symbolically understood to be used for the burning of cities. He appears with three heads: one human, one a snake’s, and one a cat’s. His gifts to the conjuror tend to be private, and true to the snake’s Biblical role as facilitator of knowledge; he “maketh one wittie everie kind of waie” (PD), and will give true answers to questions about “privie matters.”
BAAL: According to PD, the “first and principal king” of demons, appearing with three heads: one a toad’s, one a man’s, one a cat’s. Can offer the power of invisibility and make men wise. Before assimilation into demonic ranks, was under various names primary deity of numerous Semitic tribes, who sacrificed to him by the burning of their children.
BALAM: According to PD, “Balam is a great and a terrible king, he commeth foorth with three heads, the first of a bull, the second of a man, the third of a ram, he hath a serpents taile, and flaming eies, riding upon a furious [very powerful] beare, and carrieng a hawke on his fist, he speaketh with a hoarse voice, answering perfectlie of things present, past, and to come, hee maketh a man invisible and wise, hee governeth fourtie legions, and was of the order of dominations.”
BARBATOS: In PD, he appears in Sagittarius. Understands the languages of animals and birds and can detect things hidden by enchantment. Also sees the future.
BATHIN/BATHYM (MATHIM/MARTHIM): PD describes him as a man with a serpent’s tail, riding a horse. Knows herb and gem lore and has the power of “transferring men suddenly from country to country.”
BEELZEBOUL: According to the TS, he “has kingship over the demons” and is equated with Satan. His star is Venus (in some sources). Bound by one of his own demons, Ornias, at the command of Solomon, and forced to call each of the other demons in turn so that Solomon might learn more about them. Calls himself “first angel in the first heaven” and says to Solomon:
I destroy kings. I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own demons I set on to men, in order that the latter may believe in them and be lost. And the chosen servants of God, priests and faithful men, I excite unto desires for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds; and they obey me, and I bear them on to destruction. And I inspire men with envy, and murder, and for wars and sodomy, and other evil things. And I will destroy the world.
Can be overpowered, according to TS, by the name Eleéth. Name related to Baal.
BELIAL: According to PD, Belial has the form of an angel. He will offer knowledge if “constrained by divine venue, when he taketh sacrifices, gifts, and offerings,” but “he tarrieth not one houre in the truth.”
PD also has this to say about Solomon:
The exorcist must consider, that this Beliall doth in everie thing assist his subjects. If he will not submit himselfe, let the bond of spirits be read: the spirits chaine is sent for him, wherewith wise Salomon gathered them togither with their legions in a brasen vessell, where were inclosed among all the legions seventie two kings, of whome the cheefe was Bileth, the second was Beliall, the third Asmoday, and above a thousand thousand legions. Without doubt (I must confesse) I learned this of my maister Salomon; but he told me not why he gathered them together, and shut them up so: but I beleeve it was for the pride of this Beliall. Certeine nigromancers doo saie, that Salomon, being on a certeine daie seduced by the craft of a certeine woman, inclined himselfe to praie before the same idoll, Beliall by name: which is not credible. And therefore we must rather thinke (as it is said) that they were gathered together in that great brasen vessell for pride and arrogancie, and throwne into a deepe lake or hole in Babylon. For wise Salomon did accomplish his workes by the divine power, which never for-sooke him.
Perhaps an identification of Belial with Moloch here. See TS story of grasshoppers.
BELPHEGOR: Demon of get-rich-quick schemes. Seduces by means of suggesting inventions and discoveries. Associated through this with wealth, and also laziness. According to de Plancy, hell’s ambassador to France. Possibly associated with Baal (Baal-peor), in a context of ritualized sex.
BERITH: Given three names in PD: Beall (Baal? Belial?), Berithi, Bolfry. Appears as a crowned red soldier on a red horse. Can only be summoned at a certain hour (note that PD does not specify which), and will prophesy, although he will lie. Has the powers of the alchemist according to PD: “he turneth all metals into gold.”
BIFRONS: PD says only that Bifrons appears “in the similitude of a monster.” If he can be forced into human form, he will teach astrology, “absolutely declaring the mansions of the planets.” Also knows herb and gem lore. Like Bune, he “changeth dead bodies from place to place, he seemeth to light candles upon the sepulchres of the dead.”
BILETH/BYLETH: Appears angry when conjured. PD offers specific notes on his conjuration—see notes on conjuration. Primary power is love/seduction: “There is none under the power & dominion of the conjuror, but he that detaineth both men and women in foolish love, till the exorcist hath had his pleasure.”
PD is apparently afraid of Bileth: “If any exorcist have the art of Bileth, and cannot make him stand before him, nor see him, I may not disclose how and declare the means to contain him, because it is abomination.”
BOTIS: According to PD, appears as either a viper or a human with fangs and horns, carrying a sword. (See TS on unnamed demon who haunts tombs, although Botis is said in PD to prophesy instead of attack people in graveyards.)
BUER: PD says he teaches philosophy and logic, as well as the lore of herbs. Can procure familiars and heal disease.
BUNE: PD notes that Bune “maketh the dead to change their place, and devils to assemble upon the sepulchers.” Also grants riches and wisdom. Appears in the form of a three-headed dragon, one of whose head is “like to a man”; compare TS’s description of Tribolaios.
CAIM/CAYM: Often appears in the form of a thrush or blackbird, but can take human form, armed with a sword. He “maketh the best disputers” (demon of lawyers, I guess) and can teach “the understanding of all birds, of the lowing of bullocks, and barking of dogs, and also of the sound and noise of waters” (PD).
CIMERIES: Cimeries rides a black horse and rules over Africa, according to canonical demonology (and yeah, we thought of “Conan the Cimmerian,” too). But unlike the Barbarian, Cimeries is a bit of a scholar. He will teach “grammar, logicke, and rhetorike” (PD), as well as show the way to hidden treasures. Another thing he’s good at, apparently, is moving soldiers up the ranks—in the army, as elsewhere, it pays to be a smooth talker.
DECARABIA (CARABIA): PD notes that Decarabia has power over birds and can grant that power to the conjuror. Also, like many other demons, Decarabia “knoweth the force of herbs and precious stones.”
ELIGOR (ABIGOR): Appears as a handsome knight, with lance and scepter. Can be consulted on military strategy “and how soldiers should meet” (PD). Also can prophesy.
ENEPSIGOS: Has a number of shapes (TS), reflecting “abode in the moon.” Prophesies to Solomon the destruction of the Temple, after which the bound demons “will go forth in great power hither and thither, and be disseminated all over the world.”
EPHIPPAS: Arabian wind demon. In TS, Solomon binds Ephippas at the request of an Arabian king and forces him to lift up and lay the cornerstone of the Temple. Also mentioned, not by name, in the account of Solomon in Sibley’s A New and Complete Illustration of the Occult Sciences (OS).
FLAUROS: Flauros appears to have very different powers depending on the circumstances of his conjuration. If a triangle is used in the summoning ritual, PD says that he “lieth in all things”; if other symbols are used, Flauros is forced to give true prophecies. He is also, once bound, able to keep the conjuror free of temptation, and will “burne and destroie all the conjurors adversaries.” Appears as a leopard until forced to assume human shape, when he is said to have fiery eyes.
FOCALOR: A man with wings of a griffin (PD—often meaning vulture). Another demon with control over the oceans: “He killeth men, and drowneth them in the waters, and overturneth ships of warre, commanding and ruling both winds and seas.”
FORAS/FORRAS/FORCAS: Another demon cited by PD as human shaped and granting knowledge of herb and gem lore. Also “teacheth fully logic, ethic, and their parts,” as well as invisibility. Can grant long life and recover that which is lost.
FORNEUS (RONOVE/RONEVE): Takes appearance of “a monster of the sea” (PD). Grants knowledge of languages, as well as “adorneth a man with a good name.” PD describes Ronove in almost exactly the same terms.
FURCAS: According to PD, “cometh forth in the similitude of a cruel man, with a long beard and a hoary head.” Rides a horse and carries a spear. Can teach the sciences and philosophy.
FURFUR: Appears as a stag with a fiery tail. Will lie unless he is summoned within a triangle (PD). Can cause people to fall in love, and can also raise lightning and thunder.
GAAP: When in human form, sometimes appears as a doctor. PD suggests he is one of the most powerful demons; among his other powers, including learning and control of emotions, he also “delivereth familiars out of the possession of other conjurors” and “transferreth men most speedily into other nations.”
GAMIGIN/GAMYGYN: PD notes that Gamigin “is seen in the form of a little horse.” He “bringeth also to pass, that the souls which are drowned in the sea, or which dwell in Purgatory, shall take airy bodies, and evidently appear” to answer questions if the conjuror wishes.
GLASYA LABOLAS (CAACRINOLAAS/CAASSIMOLAR): PD ascribes a number of abilities: Glasya said to be “captain of murderers” who can prophesy and “gain the minds and love of friends and foes,” as well as grant invisibility. Appears as a dog with a griffin’s wings.
GOMORY: Takes the appearance of a woman riding a camel. Prophesies about hidden things. Can procure the love of women; in PD, “especially of maids.”
GUSOIN: In PD he appears in the form of a Xenophilus. Word appears nowhere else. Meaning unknown.
HAAGENTI: At first, Haagenti must be summoned in the form of a “mighty bull with gryphon’s wings” (Lemegeton). Then he must be forced into human shape before the conjuror can make him do anything. Once that’s done, though, he is a great alchemist. Will turn metals into gold, and in a debased mimicry of New Testament miracles, can also change water and wine back and forth into each other. Also said to be a “prince of gluttony,” according to some Christian mystical traditions.
HALPHAS: According to PD, he “cometh abroad like a stork with a hoarse voice,” he “buildeth up towns full of munition and weapons, he sendeth men of war to places appointed.” Much the same as Sabnac and Malphas; possible these three are aspects of a single demon, unnamed by PD or in other texts.
IPOS/IPES (AYPOROS/AYPEROS): Notable primarily for PD’s odd description: “appearing in the shape of an angel, and yet indeed more obscure and filthy than a lion, with a lion’s head, a goose’s feet, and a hare’s tail.” Will prophesy and “maketh a man witty”—Writers? Courtiers?
KOSMOKRATES: A swarm of dangerous demons in TS, attested as follows:
The first said: “I, O Lord, am called Ruax, and I cause the heads of men to be idle, and I pillage their brows. But let me only hear the words, ‘Michael, imprison Ruax,’ and at once I retreat.”
And the second said: “I am called Barsafael, and I cause those who are subject to my hour to feel the pain of migraine. If only I hear the words, ‘Gabriel, imprison Barsafael,’ at once I retreat.”
The third said: “I am called Arôtosael. I do harm to eyes, and grievously injure them. Only let me hear the words, ‘Uriel, imprison Aratosael’ (sic), at once I retreat….”
The fifth said: “I am called Iudal, and I bring about a block in the ears and deafness of hearing. If I hear, ‘Uruel Iudal,’ I at once retreat.”
The sixth said: “I am called Sphendonaêl. I cause tumours of the parotid gland, and inflammations of the tonsils, and tetanic recurvation. If I hear, ‘Sabrael, imprison Sphendonaêl,’ at once I retreat.’’
And the Seventh said: “I am called Sphandôr, and I weaken the strength of the shoulders, and cause them to tremble; and I paralyze the nerves of the hands, and I break and bruise the bones of the neck. And I, I suck out the marrow. But if I hear the words, ‘Araêl, imprison Sphandôr,’ I at once retreat.”
And the eighth said: “I am called Belbel. I distort the hearts and minds of men. If I hear the words, ‘Araêl, imprison Belbel,’ I at once retreat.”
And the ninth said: “I am called Kurtaêl. I send colics in the bowels. I induce pains. If I hear the words, ‘Iaôth, imprison Kurtaêl,’ I at once retreat.”
The tenth said: “I am called Metathiax. I cause the reins to ache. If I hear the words, ‘Adônaêl, imprison Metathiax,’ I at once retreat.”
The eleventh said: “I am called Katanikotaêl. I create strife and wrongs in men’s homes, and send on them hard temper. If any one would be at peace in his home, let him write on seven leaves of laurel the name of the angel that frustrates me, along with these names: Iae, Ieô, sons of Sabaôth, in the name of the great God let him shut up Katanikotaêl. Then let him wash the laurel-leaves in water, and sprinkle his house with the water, from within to the outside. And at once I retreat.”
The twelfth said: “I am called Saphathoraél, and I inspire partisanship in men, and delight in causing them to stumble. If any one will write on paper these names of angels, Iacô, Iealô, Iôelet, Sabaôth, Ithoth, Bae, and having folded it up, wear it round his neck or against his ear, I at once retreat and dissipate the drunken fit.”
The thirteenth said: “I am called Bobêl, and I cause nervous illness by my assaults. If I hear the name of the great ‘Adonaêl, imprison Bothothêl,’ I at once retreat.”
The fourteenth said: “I am called Kumeatêl, and I inflict shivering fits and torpor. If only I hear the words: ‘Zôrôêl, imprison Kumentaêl,’ I at once retreat.”
The fifteenth said: “I am called Roêlêd. I cause cold and frost and pain in the stomach. Let me only hear the words: ‘Iax, bide not, be not warmed, for Solomon is fairer than eleven fathers,’ I at [once] retreat.” The sixteenth said: “I am called Atrax. I inflict upon men fevers, irremediable and harmful. If you would imprison me, chop up coriander and smear it on the lips, reciting the following charm: ‘The fever which is from dirt. I exorcise thee by the throne of the most high God, retreat from dirt and retreat from the creature fashioned by God.’ And at once I retreat.”
The seventeenth said: “I am called Ieropaêl. On the stomach of men I sit, and cause convulsions in the bath and in the road; and wherever I be found, or find a man, I throw him down. But if any one will say to the afflicted into their ear these names, three times over, into the right ear: ‘Iudarizê, Sabunê, Denôê,’ I at once retreat.”
The eighteenth said: “I am called Buldumêch. I separate wife from husband and bring about a grudge between them. If any one write down the names of thy sires, Solomon, on paper and place it in the ante-chamber of his house, I retreat thence. And the legend written shall be as follows: ‘The God of Abram, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob commands thee—retire from this house in peace.’ And I at once retire.”
The nineteenth said: “I am called Naôth, and I take my seat on the knees of men. If any one write on paper: ‘Phnunoboêol, depart Nathath, and touch thou not the neck,’ I at once retreat.”
The twentieth said: “I am called Marderô. I send on men incurable fever. If any one write on the leaf of a book: ‘Sphênêr, Rafael, retire, drag me not about, flay me not,’ and tie it round his neck, I at once retreat.”
The twenty-first said: “I am called Alath, and I cause coughing and hard-breathing in children. If any one write on paper: ‘Rorêx, do thou pursue Alath,’ and fasten it round his neck, I at once retire….”
The twenty-third said: “I am called Nefthada. I cause the reins to ache, and I bring about dysury. If any one write on a plate of tin the words: ‘Iathôth, Uruêl, Nephthada,’ and fasten it round the loins, I at once retreat.”
The twenty-fourth said: “I am called Akton. I cause ribs and lumbic muscles to ache. If one engrave on copper material, taken from a ship which has missed its anchorage, this: ‘Marmaraôth, Sabaôth, pursue Akton,’ and fasten it round the loin, I at once retreat.”
The twenty-fifth said: “I am called Anatreth, and I rend burnings and fevers into the entrails. But if I hear: ‘Arara, Charara,’ instantly do I retreat.”
The twenty-sixth said: “I am called Enenuth. I steal away men’s minds, and change their hearts, and make a man toothless. If one write: ‘Allazoôl, pursue Enenuth,’ and tie the paper round him, I at once retreat.”
The twenty-seventh said: “I am called Phêth. I make men consumptive and cause hemorrhagia. If one exorcise me in wine, sweet-smelling and unmixed by the eleventh aeon, and say: ‘I exorcise thee by the eleventh aeon to stop, I demand, Phêth (Axiôphêth),’ then give it to the patient to drink, and I at once retreat.”
The twenty-eighth said: “I am called Harpax, and I send sleeplessness on men. If one write ‘Kokphnêdismos,’ and bind it round the temples, I at once retire.”
The twenty-ninth said: “I am called Anostêr. I engender uterine mania and pains in the bladder. If one powder into pure oil three seeds of laurel and smear it on, saying: ‘I exorcise thee, Anostêr. Stop by Marmaraô,’ at once I retreat.”
The thirtieth said: “I am called Alleborith. If in eating fish one has swallowed a bone, then he must take a bone from the fish and cough, and at once I retreat.”
The thirty-first said: “I am called Hephesimireth, and cause lingering disease. If you throw salt, rubbed in the hand, into oil and smear it on the patient, saying: ‘Seraphim, Cherubim, help me!’ I at once retire.”
The thirty-second said: “I am called Ichthion. I paralyze muscles and contuse them. If I hear ‘Adonaêth, help!’ I at once retire.”
The thirty-third said: “I am called Agchoniôn. I lie among swaddling-clothes and in the precipice. And if any one write on fig-leaves ‘Lycurgos,’ taking away one letter at a time, and write it, reversing the letters, I retire at once. ‘Lycurgos, ycurgos, kurgos, yrgos, gos, os.’”
The thirty-fourth said: “I am called Autothith. I cause grudges and fighting. Therefore I am frustrated by Alpha and Omega, if written down.”
The thirty-fifth said: “I am called Phthenoth. I cast evil eye on every man. Therefore, the eye much-suffering, if it be drawn. frustrates me.”
The thirty-sixth said: “I am called Bianakith. I have a grudge against the body. I lay waste houses, I cause flesh to decay, and all else that is similar. If a man write on the front-door of his house: ‘Mêltô, Ardu, Anaath,’ I flee from that place.”
KUNOSPASTON: Appears as a horse with the tail of a fish, but can change into water (note possible ancestry of backahasten or each uisge legends…? Draugr, too?). Self-identified demon of storms and seasickness, per TS: “I am such a spirit as rounds itself and comes over the expanses of the water of the sea, and I trip up the men who sail thereon. For I round myself into a wave, and transform myself, and then throw myself on ships and come right in on them.” Cannot survive more than three days out of water.
LERAIE/LORAY: Takes the likeness of an archer. Putrefies wounds made by arrows.
MALPHAS: Typically seen as a crow, although can be compelled to take human shape. Powers concern building. “He buildeth houses and high towers wonderfully, and quickly bringeth artificers together, he throweth down also the enemy’s towers” (PD). Can create familiars.
MARBAS (BARBAS): PD says Marbas appears as a lion but can be forced into human shape (note similarity to TS talking about Rath). Also “changeth men into other shapes” (PD) and can cause and cure disease.
MARCHOSIAS: According to PD, “showeth himself in the shape of a cruel she-wolf with a griffin’s wings and a serpent’s tail.” Can be commanded to fight in a man’s shape; tells the truth.
MAVET: Hebrew demon that kills firstborn children.
MORAX (FORAII): A bull. PD: “If he take unto him a man’s face, he maketh men wonderful cunning in astronomy, and in all the liberal sciences.” Also can grant familiars and knows herb and gem lore.
MURMUR: PD describes him as “appearing in the shape of a soldier, riding on a vulture.” Can force souls to appear before the conjuror and answer questions.
NABERIUS/NABERUS: PD gives one alias as Cerberus. Relation to Greek Cerberus unknown, as this demon appears “in the form of a crow” and makes men cunning in language (“rhetorike”), although PD also notes that Naberius “procureth the loss of prelacies and dignities”; another demon that promises the world and leads to ruin. Crow form interesting; must explore possible relationship to crow figures in Native American/Norse mythologies and elsewhere.
OBIZUTH: In TS, appears as a disembodied head, with “disheveled” hair. Has “myriad names and many shapes,” so difficult to bind. Strangles newborns (in umbilical cord? Caul?). “I have no work other than the destruction of children, and the making their ears to be deaf, and the working of evil to their eyes, and the binding their mouths with a bond, and the ruin of their minds, and paining of their bodies.” Cannot approach a pregnant woman on whom the name of Raphael (whose number is 640) is inscribed. Description recalls Greek legend of the Medusa. In a more traditional demonological sense, description of Obizuth’s actions strongly recalls Lilith.
ONOSKELIS: In The Testament of Solomon, Onoskelis “had a very pretty shape, and a fair complexion, but her legs were those of a mule.” Her testimony: “Oftentimes, however, do I consort with men in the semblance of a woman, and above all with those of a dark skin. For they share my star with me; since they it is who privily or openly worship my star, without knowing that they harm themselves, and but whet my appetite for further mischief.” Her star is the full moon.
ORIAS: “Seen as a lion riding on a strong horse, with a serpent’s tail, and carrying in his right hand two great serpents hissing” (PD), knows astrology and can sway the targets of the conjuror’s ambition to grant “dignities, prelacies, and confirmations.”
ORNIAS: In The Testament of Solomon, the first demon mentioned. Ornias preyed upon a child laborer working on the building of the Temple, taking half of his food and his pay. Hearing of this, Solomon asked the boy what was wrong. “After we are all released from our work on the Temple of God, after sunset, when I lie down to rest, one of the evil demons comes and takes away from me one half of my pay and one half of my food. Then he also takes hold of my right hand and sucks my thumb. And lo, my soul is oppressed, and so my body waxes thinner every day.” The angel Michael gave Solomon a ring, which he was to give the child to throw at the demon and bind him.
This being done, Solomon commands Ornias to reveal his nature. Ornias says:
“Whenever men come to be enamored of women, I metamorphose myself into a comely female; and I take hold of the men in their sleep, and play with them…. I am offspring of the archangel Uriel, the power of God.”
(Sexual predation recalls succubus, although Ornias is presented as male in gender. Ornias also instructs Solomon in demonic prophecy.)
The story continues. “I ordered Ornias to be brought forward, and said to him: ‘Tell me how you know this’; and he answered: ‘We demons ascend into the firmament of heaven, and fly about among the stars. And we hear the sentences which go forth upon the souls of men, and forthwith we come, and whether by force of influence, or by fire, or by sword, or by some accident, we veil our act of destruction; and if a man does not die by some untimely disaster or by violence, then we demons transform ourselves in such a way as to appear to men and be worshipped in our human nature.’
“I therefore, having heard this, glorified the Lord God, and again I questioned the demon, saying: ‘Tell me how ye can ascend into heaven, being demons, and amidst the stars and holy angels intermingle.’ And he answered: ‘Just as things are fulfilled in heaven, so also on earth the types of all of them. For there are principalities, authorities, world-rulers, and we demons fly about in the air; and we hear the voices of the heavenly beings, and survey all the powers. And as having no ground on which to alight and rest, we lose strength and fall off like leaves from trees. And men seeing us imagine that the stars are falling from heaven. But it is not really so, O king; but we fall because of our weakness, and because we have nowhere anything to lay hold of; and so we fall down like lightnings in the depth of night and suddenly. And we set cities in flames and fire the fields. For the stars have firm foundations in the heavens like the sun and the moon.’” (TS)
OROBAS: “Orobas is a great prince, he commeth foorth like a horsse, but when he putteth on him a mans idol [image], he talketh of divine vertue, he giveth true answers of things present, past, and to come, and of the divinitie, and of the creation, he deceiveth none, nor suffereth anie to be tempted, he giveth dignities and prelacies, and the favour of freends and foes, and hath rule over twentie legions.” (PD)
OZE/OSE: Taking the form of a leopard, Oze can both transform a man’s shape and create illusions (“bringeth a man to that madness, that he thinketh himself to be that which he is not”—PD). Control over sanity implied here. A cryptic note at the end of PD’s entry on Oze: Durátque id regnum ad horam—“makes the kingdom of time endure.” Control over time, perhaps? Or over the experience of time? Can slow or accelerate aging?
PAIMON: A man sitting on a dromedary (PD), appearing with “a great cry and roaring.” Although Paimon has tremendous knowledge, he will dissemble and must be forced to speak plainly. Can control other people for the conjuror and “prepareth good familiars.” A note about his conjuration: “The exorcist must look toward the northwest.”
PHOENIX: Although this demon appears in the likeness of his mythological namesake—as a bird with brilliant gold and red feathers—he doesn’t have much to do with resurrection. In another Greek resonance, PD warns that Phoenix poses the same dangers as the siren, singing beautifully to distract the summoner from the dangers of the ritual: “Then the exorcist with his companions must beware he give no eare to the melodie, but must by and by bid him put on humane shape,” whereupon he will grant the gift of poetry and knowledge of arcane sciences.
PLEIADES: Seven spirits appearing to Solomon in TS: Deception, Strife, Battle, Jealousy, Power, Error, and a seventh identified only as “the worst of all.” (Evil spirits also grouped by seven in Testament of Reuben, elsewhere.)
PROCELL: Appears in the shape of an angel and “speaketh very darkly of things hidden”—can control water according to PD.
PRUFLAS (BUFAS): In PD, lives around the Tower of Babylon. Man shaped with the head of a hawk (Horus?). PD says he spreads “discord, war, quarrels, and lies,” although PD also notes that Pruflas willingly answers questions.
PURSON: A man with a lion’s face (PD), carrying a snake and riding a bear. Accompanied by the sound of trumpets. Can prophesy, change shape, and bring forth familiars.
RABDOS: Appears in the form of a giant hound (TS); previously “a man that wrought many unholy deeds on earth. I was surpassingly learned in letters, and was so mighty that I could hold the stars of heaven back. And many divine works did I prepare.” Possibly a source of knowledge if bound? TS corrupt here.
RATH: Takes the form of a lion, although also tells Solomon he is “a spirit quite incapable of being perceived.” Makes sick men weaker, but also casts out demons. Bound by the number 644, Hebrew numerological sum of “Emmanuel.”
RAUM/RAIM: Shaped as a crow, but in human form “stealeth woonderfully out of the king’s house, and carrieth it whether he is assigned, he destroyeth cities, and hath great despite unto dignities” (PD). Like Shax in his thievery.
RESHEF: Name means “pestilence.” Sometimes known as Dever, and in that version is one of the ten plagues of Egypt given form. Dad had a theory about the odd “Croatoan” message carved into the tree where the lost colony of Roanoke had been. He thought Croatoan was another name for Reshef, or Dever. We never did have time to clarify why he thought that, and now he’s gone.
SALEOS/ZALEOS: The Goetia makes note of this demon’s peaceable nature, which doesn’t really square with PD’s description of him as appearing “as a gallant soldier, riding on a crocodile.” He is said to have power over affection, and is often used by conjurors who want to magically spiff themselves up for a reluctant lover.
SHAX/SCOX/CHAX: PD describes him as “like unto a stork” (ibis? Thoth?); “he doth marvelously take away the sight, hearing and understanding of any man at the commandment of the conjuror.” Will lie unless he is bound in a triangle.
SITRI/SYTRY (BITRU): A “very beautiful” demon (PD) when in human shape, inflames passions and “discloses secrets of women…to make them luxuriously naked.” Appears first in the shape of a leopard, with griffin’s wings.
STOLAS: Appearing as a raven until the summoner forces him into human shape, Stolas is said to give knowledge of mineralogy and plant lore, perfectly “understanding the vertues of herbes and pretious stones” (PD). The Legemeton has him as an owl rather than a raven.
SUCAX: Not attested in Weyer or Legemeton, but an anonymous fifteenth-century necromancer’s manual known as the Munich Handbook describes him as appearing as a man with a woman’s face, who exerts a particular power to make the conjuror beloved of widows. In addition, he is said to be able to transport the conjuror over long distances (a la the Wild Hunt?) and to teach languages.
TEPHRAS: Appears as a whirlwind under a crescent (horned) moon. “I bring darkness on men, and set fire to fields; and I bring homesteads to naught” (TS). But also heals the “hemitertian fever” (TS—convulsive disorder? Epilepsy?).
TRIBOLAIOS: Appears in TS as “a dragon, three-headed, of fearful hue,” though with human hands. Dispelled/controlled by the writing of Golgotha. “I blind children in women’s wombs, and twirl their ears round. And I make them deaf and mute. And I have again in my third head means of slipping in. And I smite men in the limbless part of the body, and cause them to fall down, and foam, and grind their teeth.” Compare Bune.
VALEFAR (MALEPHAR/MALAPHAR): Takes the form of a lion with a human’s (thief’s?—PD) head. PD notes with some irony that he “is very familiar with them to whom he maketh himself acquainted, till he hath brought them to the gallows.” Another demon that plants ideas of evil in seductive ways.
VAPULA: According to PD, “Vapula is a great duke and a strong, he is seene like a lion with griphens wings, he maketh a man subtill and wonderfull in handicrafts [mechanics], philosophie, and in sciences conteined in bookes, and is ruler over thirtie six legions.”
VEPAR (SEPAR): “He is like a mermaid, he is the guide of the waters” (PD), brings storms and shipwrecks. Also, like Sabnac, putrefies wounds.
VINE: In PD, he “showeth himself as a lion, riding on a black horse, and carrying a viper in his hand.” Builds and destroys cities and “maketh waters rough.” Can also prophesy and—note—“answer of witches.”
VOLAC/VALAC: A boy with angel’s wings, riding on a two-headed dragon (PD). Has the power to deliver snakes into the conjurors’ control.
VUALL/WAL: Once forced out of the camel shape which is his preferred guise, Vuall will prophesy and, according to PD, win for the conjuror the love of “freends and foes,” as well as women. There’s only one hitch: “he soundeth out in a base [deep] voice the Ægyptian toong.”
ZAGAN/ZAGAM: A bull with griffin’s wings (PD). Capable of transformations of all metals into “the coin of that dominion,” as well as water into wine and vice versa, blood into oil and vice versa.
ZEPAR: Sexual demon, “appearing as a soldier” (PD). Causes passion of women for men and “changeth their shape, until they may enjoy their beloved” (note possible bearing to other shapechanging sexual demons—incubus/succubus—also apocryphal stories of Solomon and Sheba, in which Sheba changed her form to make Solomon desire her). Also makes women barren.